KGK Diamonds officially opened factory in Gaborone recently, says a report.

The newly opened factory is situated at Gaborone’s Diamond Technology Park. With a staff compliment of 90, KGK will cut and polish diamonds worth an average $1.5 million every month.

Officially opening KGK’s factory, the Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources, Kitso Mokaila said the opening of the factory bears testimony of the strong long-term fundamentals of the diamond industry.

The report further state that the company becomes De Beers’ 22nd local sightholder, replacing Teemane, which closed shop early this year.

Also, the report says that due to depressed polished prices set against high rough prices, cutting and polishing companies globally are currently facing difficulties with the local industry’s situation exacerbated by the comparatively higher labour costs. At its peak, the local cutting and polishing industry employed about 3,700 workers. Companies that have recently retrenched include Moti Ganz (100), Leo Schachter (100), Eurostar (100), Shrenuj (90) Safdico (30), Zebra (50), Dalumni, Tiffany’s (50), while Teemane (400) and DMB closed shop.